{"id":17727,"date":"2026-03-17T17:37:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T21:37:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/?p=17727"},"modified":"2026-03-17T17:37:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T21:37:19","slug":"church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/","title":{"rendered":"Church of Holy Sepulchre Remains Closed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Israeli authorities closed Jerusalem\u2019s Church of the Holy Sepulchre as part of wider closures for security concerns, beginning 28 February, when Israel and the United States launched attacks against Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A statement from the head of Israel\u2019s Civil Administration confirmed that \u201call holy sites in the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Western Wall, the Temple Mount and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, will remain closed… for security reasons in light of the current tensions in the region.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joseph Hazboun, regional director of the office of CNEWA\/Pontifical Mission for Palestine in Jerusalem, said the decision was framed as a precaution against potential attacks and to prevent mass gatherings during a period of heightened alert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Israeli Foreign Ministry reported on X on 12 March that a missile struck \u201ca few hundred meters from the Old City, the Western Wall, al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Protecting lives and worshiper\u2019s safety come first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Hazboun said although other churches remained open, he expected the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which contains the tomb of Jesus<\/a>, to remain closed \u201cuntil the end of the war and the cessation of rocket fire from Iran on Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holy Week begins 29 March, and Mr. Hazboun said he expects services for Holy Week and Easter will be celebrated at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with religious and clergy only, as happened during the COVID-19 pandemic<\/a>. The Holy Sepulchre is governed by the Status Quo, the 19th-century agreement that governs Jerusalem\u2019s holy places. The church has services for Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Coptic, Syriac and Ethiopian Orthodox worshipers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe church leaders intend to meet with representative of the police to impress on them the need to allow Easter celebrations, even if at a reduced capacity, similar to the pandemic restrictions,\u201d said Sami el-Yousef, chief executive officer of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. \u201cWe shall see whether that will bear any results.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Hazboun said that on 15 March, \u201cthe 27th of Ramadan and Laylat al-Qadr \u2014 an especially significant evening for Muslims in Jerusalem and Palestine \u2014 the Israelis sealed off the Old City to prevent Muslims from entering and reaching Al-Aqsa [Mosque]. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThousands ended up observing the night near the gates of the Old City. In addition, even residents of the Old City, including Christians, were not permitted to leave,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Israelis closed the famous church, as well as other religious sites in Jerusalem, citing security reasons during the current Middle East war.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70080,"featured_media":17728,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3084,3079,63,3081],"class_list":["post-17727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-responding-to-human-needs","category-accompanying-local-churches","category-middle-east","category-israel"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nChurch of Holy Sepulchre Remains Closed | CNEWA Canada<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Israelis closed the Church of the Holy Sepulcre citing security reasons during the current Middle East war.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Church of Holy Sepulchre Remains Closed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Israelis closed the Church of the Holy Sepulcre citing security reasons during the current Middle East war.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CNEWA Canada\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cnewacanada\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-17T21:37:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-17T21:37:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/20260304T1525-JERUSALEM-EMPTY-CONFLICT-IRAN-18145751.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1333\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Barb Fraze\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cnewac\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cnewac\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Barb Fraze\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Barb Fraze\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#\/schema\/person\/929839c5dd14a349dc51af681d8cf7ae\"},\"headline\":\"Church of Holy Sepulchre Remains Closed\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-17T21:37:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-17T21:37:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/\"},\"wordCount\":402,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/20260304T1525-JERUSALEM-EMPTY-CONFLICT-IRAN-18145751.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Responding to Human Needs\",\"Accompanying Local Churches\",\"Middle East\",\"Israel\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/\",\"name\":\"Church of Holy Sepulchre Remains Closed | CNEWA Canada\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/20260304T1525-JERUSALEM-EMPTY-CONFLICT-IRAN-18145751.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-17T21:37:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-17T21:37:19+00:00\",\"description\":\"Israelis closed the Church of the Holy Sepulcre citing security reasons during the current Middle East war.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/20260304T1525-JERUSALEM-EMPTY-CONFLICT-IRAN-18145751.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/20260304T1525-JERUSALEM-EMPTY-CONFLICT-IRAN-18145751.jpg\",\"width\":1800,\"height\":1333,\"caption\":\"An Ethiopian Christian woman prays at the locked doors of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City of Jerusalem. The church and other religious sites as well as stores were locked shut by order of the Israeli government as Iranian ballistic missiles were fired at Israel. (OSV News photo\/Debbie Hill)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Church of Holy Sepulchre Remains Closed\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/\",\"name\":\"CNEWA Canada\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#organization\",\"name\":\"CNEWA Canada\",\"alternateName\":\"Catholic Near East Welfare Association\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/CNEWA-brand-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/CNEWA-brand-logo.png\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"CNEWA Canada\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cnewacanada\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/cnewac\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/cnewa1926\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/TheCNEWA\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Barb Fraze\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Church of Holy Sepulchre Remains Closed | CNEWA Canada","description":"Israelis closed the Church of the Holy Sepulcre citing security reasons during the current Middle East war.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Church of Holy Sepulchre Remains Closed","og_description":"Israelis closed the Church of the Holy Sepulcre citing security reasons during the current Middle East war.","og_site_name":"CNEWA Canada","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cnewacanada\/","article_published_time":"2026-03-17T21:37:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-17T21:37:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1800,"height":1333,"url":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/20260304T1525-JERUSALEM-EMPTY-CONFLICT-IRAN-18145751.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Barb Fraze","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@cnewac","twitter_site":"@cnewac","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Barb Fraze","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/"},"author":{"name":"Barb Fraze","@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#\/schema\/person\/929839c5dd14a349dc51af681d8cf7ae"},"headline":"Church of Holy Sepulchre Remains Closed","datePublished":"2026-03-17T21:37:18+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-17T21:37:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/"},"wordCount":402,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/20260304T1525-JERUSALEM-EMPTY-CONFLICT-IRAN-18145751.jpg","articleSection":["Responding to Human Needs","Accompanying Local Churches","Middle East","Israel"],"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/","url":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/","name":"Church of Holy Sepulchre Remains Closed | CNEWA Canada","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/20260304T1525-JERUSALEM-EMPTY-CONFLICT-IRAN-18145751.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-17T21:37:18+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-17T21:37:19+00:00","description":"Israelis closed the Church of the Holy Sepulcre citing security reasons during the current Middle East war.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/20260304T1525-JERUSALEM-EMPTY-CONFLICT-IRAN-18145751.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/20260304T1525-JERUSALEM-EMPTY-CONFLICT-IRAN-18145751.jpg","width":1800,"height":1333,"caption":"An Ethiopian Christian woman prays at the locked doors of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City of Jerusalem. The church and other religious sites as well as stores were locked shut by order of the Israeli government as Iranian ballistic missiles were fired at Israel. (OSV News photo\/Debbie Hill)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/church-of-holy-sepulchre-remains-closed\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Church of Holy Sepulchre Remains Closed"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/","name":"CNEWA Canada","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#organization","name":"CNEWA Canada","alternateName":"Catholic Near East Welfare Association","url":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/CNEWA-brand-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/CNEWA-brand-logo.png","width":1000,"height":1000,"caption":"CNEWA Canada"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cnewacanada\/","https:\/\/x.com\/cnewac","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/cnewa1926\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/TheCNEWA"]},{"@type":"Person","name":"Barb Fraze"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/70080"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17727"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17729,"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17727\/revisions\/17729"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}